To quote the late, great comedian Linda Smith: "Don't knock asbos, it's the only qualification some of these kids will ever get." Such children will, no doubt, be devastated to discover that the much-derided badges of dishonour are expected to be done away with in a forthcoming Home Office policy review.

It is lamentable news, not least because the orders have provided some of the daftest stories of the last decade. Since their introduction in 1998, asbos have been issued for behaviour as weird and wonderful as wearing low-slung trousers (Ellis Drummond), leaping into canals and naked opera singing.

Take, for example, 47-year-old Stuart Hunt of Loch Ness, who appeared in court last year in breach of an asbo that banned him from laughing, staring or slow-clapping – imposed as part of a six-year feud with a neighbouring family. He was charged with the breach after chuckling in his car at a rude gesture made by the neighbours' young daughter. Hunt told papers at the time: "They charged me with laughing . . . I couldn't believe it."

It wasn't the only form of frivolity that angered the public. Earlier this year, 76-year-old Richard Dawe breached an order by singing Oh, What a Beautiful Morning in the street. That particular asbo was probably well-earned; the court report stated he also used his sheepdogs to "herd" an elderly resident, and once climbed an ant hill while goose-stepping and repeatedly shouting: "The Don rules!"

Whether or not The Don does indeed rule, singing is a recurring theme. In 2007 39-year-old Caroline Bishop was served with an asbo after belting out Gary Glitter's Leader of the Gang while bathing. Neighbours described it as high-pitched, tuneless noise.

Other asbos were aimed indirectly at the animal kingdom, mimicking the "pet asbos" prophesied in the first episode of The Thick of It. Perthshire beekeeper David Dickman was banned from keeping bees within three miles of his home, while 64-year-old Peter Stoodley was ordered to dispose of more than 100 chickens that he had kept for 10 years in a small backyard.

Even superheroes were not immune; 21-year-old Mark Allen, nicknamed Spider-Man, was served with an order for climbing the sides of tower blocks, reaching heights of 150ft without any form of safety equipment. Residents insisted the order was as much for his benefit as theirs.

So, farewell then, antisocial behaviour orders. You may not have achieved much. You may, in fact, have made situations worse, but it was nice now and then to open a paper and read that someone, somewhere had found a bold, strange, and new way, of annoying the hell out of the neighbours.

• This article was amended on 5 January 2011. The original said: In 1997 39-year-old Caroline Bishop was served with an asbo. This has been corrected.